On 4/14/2012 11:05 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
I'm happy with the lids from Lehman, I will empty the kraft paper tube
and stack them in plastic boxes I have on hand. Should last me at least
a year or more, depending on how the fruit and vegetable crops go.

George, you probably know this but some new folks to
canning might not so...

anyways, lids often have sharp edges so if you don't
keep them tight together and safe from sliding around
they can damage the coating that keeps the metal from
reacting with acidic contents.
I've never had a scratch in the sixty plus years I've been canning.

you're lucky then. i didn't know they
were so delicate the first season i used
some of the newer ones and scratched
three or four (just by dropping them in
water to warm them up and having them
float down and hit each other with the
sharp edge). never stir them just reach
in with a wooden spoon to lift them out.
still it was enough. once i noticed the
scratches rusting a little when we opened
the jars i was then a lot more careful
and haven't scratched too many more.


Stacked in a plastic container they're not sliding around, just stacked up.

*nods* but if it were not a tight fitting
container you'd know that they'd have to be
repacked when you move to keep them from
scratching each other. some people might not
think of it or know. i just figured i'd
mention it.


sometimes i notice a scratch even from lids i've been
real careful with because they've clanked off one another
in the warming pan i use when they are getting softened
up.

I use a magnetic wand to get the lids out of the sauce pan they're
heating up in, pretty much always have done that too. Just a plastic
wand with a magnet on the end. I think the current one came from a Ball
kit at a store, couldn't swear to it. Last one I had I made from an oak
dowel with a small magnet glued to it with super glue.

sounds like a good plan. think i have
all three of those items on hand.


i'm thinking i might need to start layering them in
a thin towel and then putting that in the water.

Get a stick magnet, it's lots easier.

it would be. though i think my scratches
came from putting the lids in the water and not
from digging them out.


songbird
I drop the lids into a shallow pan half full of water that is at a
simmer. The lids are dropped with the seal side down and are dropped
flat. I then poke them under the water with a finger. As far as I know
I've never lost a lid due to scratches. One batch of Ball lids a few
years ago had a ten percent fail to seal rate, lost two out of a batch
of twelve. Dropped Ball an email and got a coupon back for a free box of
lids. Can't beat that type of service.

George Shirley wrote:
....
I drop the lids into a shallow pan half full of water that is at a
simmer. The lids are dropped with the seal side down and are dropped
flat. I then poke them under the water with a finger.

that's about how i've done it too. then i
also put them in and ran water on them to
cover and warmed them up.


As far as I know
I've never lost a lid due to scratches. One batch of Ball lids a few
years ago had a ten percent fail to seal rate, lost two out of a batch
of twelve. Dropped Ball an email and got a coupon back for a free box of
lids. Can't beat that type of service.



i don't lose a lid from the scratch as i can't
even see the scratch until later when i open the
jar. there will be a scratch in the coating and
some rust can form. that's when i notice it. we
usually don't move our sealed jars often so i never
notice it affecting the flavor. just something
that happens.

would be nice if they could buff or dull the edges
of the stamped metal lids so they wouldn't be so
sharp, but i'm sure they'd double the cost too.
shh! pretend i didn't say that.


songbird